Lawyers for some of the MV Sun Sea migrants say federal immigration rules have forced their clients to sell their belongings and family land so they can pay off smugglers and be released from detention.
The Canada Border Services Agency has argued in recent weeks that several of the migrants should be kept in custody because they're unlikely to appear for subsequent hearings. The agency has told the Immigration and Refugee Board that the migrants owe money to the organizers of the MV Sun Sea's voyage and could be under their control.
Refugee lawyers say that puts the migrants in the position of having to raise funds to pay off the smugglers or stay in detention.
"It's become this weird perversion of the law where we're forcing people to pay these debts," said Gabriel Chand, who represents some of the 492 Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived on the cargo ship last August. "They're selling their land, their jewelry, so that they can pay these debts so they can be released from custody."
Mr. Chand said when he appears before the IRB, he now begins by stating his objections to the CBSA policy.
He said the migrants he represents are not under the smugglers' control. In fact, he said, they have no intention of paying the smugglers.
"The smugglers put them on this crappy ship in atrocious conditions. They took their money; they're preying on these vulnerable people. The only redress these people had was to say, 'We're not going to pay you; try to collect.' Now CBSA is saying, 'We'll collect for you.'"
A CBSA spokeswoman did not return a message seeking comment.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, appearing outside a Vancouver restaurant to highlight his government's attempts to fight human smuggling, said any suggestion migrants are being kept behind bars until their smuggling debts are paid is "ridiculous."
"They're not paying that off while they're in detention; they're paying it off after they're released from detention. They're then in contact with the smuggling syndicate's representative, usually in the Toronto area, and according to information I was given by the Australian Federal Police, they're often pressed into criminal service in areas like credit-card fraud."
Mr. Kenney, the Conservative MP for Calgary Southeast, said paying a smuggler is illegal. "The government of Canada wouldn't countenance facilitating someone paying" such a debt, he said.
The federal government introduced Bill C-49 last October to try to prevent human smuggling, but opposition parties vowed to vote it down, raising concerns about the bill's constitutionality. Advocates have said the bill would punish refugees by keeping them in detention longer and denying family reunification. The bill died with the calling of the federal election.
Eric Purtzki, another lawyer who has represented MV Sun Sea passengers, said whether a migrant has paid off the debt undoubtedly plays a role in their release. There are other factors to consider, such as the person's security risk or ties to Canada.
"The point is that the minister and the board are requiring that we essentially pay the smuggler. It's an incentive to get out," he said.